Ben Chonzie trail head by Invergeldie.
Start of path towards Ben Chonzie.
| Ben Chonzie from
Invergeldie Ben Chonzie |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours | ||
| Difficulty | Easy hike on mountain road and path. | ||
| Drinking water | Several sources of running water, but the quality is unknown. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route, but a bit patch in the middle of the route (April 2012). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at the car park by trail head. | ||
| Start height | 214 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 745 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 12.7 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From the town Crieff drive approximately 10.5 km west on road A85, to Comrie. Where A85 does a 90° right bend at the west end of the village continue 260 metres to where A85 does a 90° left bend. Leave A85 at this point a drive straight ahead on a single file road. Drive this road 6.7 km to the farms at Invergeldie. Park at the car park where the road forks.
Start walking by following the right branch of the fork, approximately 200 metres to the houses. Turn right, pass the gate, and then turn left and follow the mountain road 500 metres to where it crosses the stream on a small bridge. Continue 1.1 km on the left side of the stream, and turn sharp right across the stream. Head south 100 metres and then turn left and follow the mountain road 2.4 km east, up to 720 metres. Look out for a small cairn on the left hand side of the road, and the start of a vague path. Follow this path north up to the small top at 900 metres and then north-east to the summit, which is marked by a large pile of stones. These last 700 metres don't have a well defined path, but you can follow the reminds of the fence all the way to the summit.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
Håvard, Jon and me had arrived in Scotland the day before, and stayed the night in Blairgowrie. After breakfast we drove to Crieff and our Crieff Hydro hotel. After booking in I changed into hiking gear, and then gave Håvard and Jon a lift to Crieff golf club before driving to Invergeldie in order to hike Ben Chonzie. The weather had improved considerably since yesterday, and despite some wind it was a fairly nice day.
Finding trail head proved to be much easier than I had anticipated, and a quick check with one of the locals confirmed my assumption that the mountain road past the houses would take me to Ben Chonzie. And further help was obtained when I met a lady at around 550 metres, who told me what to look out for in order to find the path that would take me to the summit.
A little before the summit I overtook a couple, who joined me at the summit a
little later, only to turn around and start their descent after a few seconds
stop at the summit. Me, on the other hand, spent quite a while at the windy
summit, enjoying the fine views to the snow clad summits, and taking many
photos. Then a relatively quick descent, a drive back to the hotel, and a couple
of beers with the whole team, which by now counted seven (Halvard, Jan and Tore
x2, in addition to the ones who arrived the day before).
Photos 27.04.2012